Cyclone Mocha: Traces of destruction in Myanmar and Bangladesh

Category 5 cyclone Mocha wreaked havoc in parts of Myanmar and Bangladesh. The exact extent of the damage could not be estimated on Monday. The tropical cyclone hit the west coast of the two neighboring countries on Sunday with wind speeds of more than 200 kilometers per hour. It was the strongest cyclone to hit the region in more than a decade.

Photos and videos from the affected areas showed many roofed houses and huts. There was rubble everywhere. Many trees and power poles have also snapped. Heavy rainfall and storm surges also caused severe flooding. Communication with the region was difficult on Monday. In the morning (local time) there were no telephone connections with the particularly hard-hit Rakhine State in Myanmar.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Sunday evening: “Initial reports indicate that the damage is significant and that the needs of already vulnerable communities, particularly those displaced, will be high.”

Hundreds of thousands of people had already been brought to safety in both countries as a precaution. This apparently saved many lives: according to local media reports, three people died in Myanmar and initially there were no reports of casualties in Bangladesh.

Crisis-ravaged Myanmar has been engulfed in chaos and violence since a coup two years ago. More than a million people are already living as internally displaced persons, often in emergency shelters. The town of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh was also hit. About a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar live there in makeshift housing in the world’s largest concentration of refugee camps.

Tens of thousands of them were affected by the storm, the UN refugee agency UNHCR wrote on Twitter. Many lost their homes and belongings. Learning centers, bridges and roads were also badly damaged.

Many in the region had feared that “Mocha” could have the same dire consequences as Cyclone “Nargis” 15 years ago: In May 2008, the tropical storm in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta killed nearly 140,000 people, according to estimates. (oee/sda/dpa)